A known filling device, for example the filling carousel disclosed in document FR-A-2540754, comprises a series of filling heads fitted with an integral cleaning device. The cleaning device comprises a manifold secured to the dispenser ducts of the filling heads adjacent the outflow nozzles of the dispenser ducts so as to form a sealed assembly with those ducts, the manifold including an outlet orifice arranged directly below the outflow nozzle of each filling head, each outlet orifice being associated with a removable closure member. In document FR-A-2540754, the closure member is a stopper which is secured in each outlet orifice before cleaning so as to close each outlet orifice during cleaning. In a rotary filling carousel, an operator generally has access to the outlet orifices only in a limited region of the carousel, and in order to ensure that all stoppers are correctly placed, it is therefore necessary to rotate the carousel so as to bring the outlet orifices successively into the access zone.
For obvious safety reasons, it is not possible for the operator to insert the closure members whilst the carousel is rotating, even at slow speed. It is therefore necessary to cause the carousel to perform a series of starts and stops so as to bring all the outlet orifices successively within reach of the operator. Such an operation is time-consuming and tedious and substantially increases the time required for cleaning the filling device. Moreover, there is a danger that the operator could drop a closure member so that it falls into a relatively inaccessible part of the filling device. Finally, when the cleaning operation has been completed, the manual intervention of an operator removing the stoppers could give rise to contamination incompatible with utilization of the filling device in hygienic conditions.